About Me

The National Counselling Society (NCS) is one of the largest professional organisations for counsellors in the UK and, more importantly for you, they are part of the Professional Standards Authority's accreditation scheme. What does this mean for you? There are unfortunately a lot of unqualified counsellors practising in the UK. Being accredited by the NCS means that the NCS have checked my qualifications and have ensured that I am fit to practise. You can be confident that I have the right skills and experience to be able to help you effectively and safely.

"Richard helped me to manage my depression and anxiety in a way that medication couldn't. I feel like I can live a normal life again." - A former client

I offer a 30-minute initial consultation, which is free of charge. This initial consultation is a chance for us to discuss how you're feeling, I'll explain how I work, and you can ask any questions that you have. To book your initial consultation, please click here

My Story

I think I used to be a lot like you. I grew up believing that I wasn’t good enough. All I wanted was to be confident, to feel happy, to be able to stand up for myself and not to doubt myself. In essence, I wanted not to be scared of being me.

My greatest fear was that I would spend the rest of my life continuing to feel anxious and lonely, avoiding anything and everything that would show me up for being weird, different or incapable. I didn’t make many friends; I would avoid going to busy places, and I would never do anything that might upset someone else.

My self-esteem was virtually non-existent; I had no confidence to be me and to do what I wanted. I would question everything that I thought and did and became incredibly self-critical. All of this led to me feeling anxious and depressed, not enjoying life at all.

My parents were worried about me and eventually convinced me to see a doctor. I was diagnosed with depression and started on antidepressants. They helped me to feel less bad (I wouldn’t say that they helped me to feel happier), but they didn’t help to resolve the problem.

Next, I tried CBT with the NHS. The person who assessed me believed that the problem was anxiety, and so I had eight sessions of CBT to learn how not to be anxious. Just like with the antidepressants, the CBT did help a little bit, but I only felt mildly better because the anxiety was just a symptom of a much deeper problem.

Over and over again, it felt like other people were telling me how I felt and why I was wrong for feeling that way. I was so fed up with feeling how I felt and not receiving the help that I needed that I decided to try to figure out the solution on my own.

I started learning psychology and researching things that might help me. I tested everything that I came across to see if it would help, and some of it did! I spent the next four years training as a counsellor and refining what I was practising so that I could use it to help my clients.

So, why am I telling you this? Because I know how frustrating it is to be a prisoner of your thoughts and not to be understood by other people. I was fed up of how difficult it was to get the help that helped when there are some reasonably easy solutions. I don’t want you to spend the rest of your life feeling like you do now, I want you to spend the rest of your life loving who you are!

Qualifications and Experience

My qualifications include:

Advanced Certificate in Relationship Therapy - 2 years of training

Higher Diploma in Counselling Practice - 2 years of training

Advanced Certificate in Counselling Skills - 1 year of training

Certificate in Counselling Skills - 1 year of training

It is important to me that I am able to offer you the very best chance to reach your goals. To do this I attend additional regular training sessions throughout the year which includes:

Adult Attachment Behaviour

Ethical Practice Conference

Sex and love addiction

Advanced Couples Counselling - Sex and Ageing

Working creatively with clients

Treating social anxiety disorder

Advanced Couples Counselling - Couples in Conflict

Working with clients using techniques from Gestalt theory

Working with anxiety

Pregnancy Loss

Working with clients using techniques from Transactional Analysis

Domestic Abuse training

My main training placement was with New Dawn Counselling Service in Weston-super-Mare. I successfully worked with a variety of clients of all ages, backgrounds and difficulties.

Aside from experience of working with clients I also:

Mentor trainee and newly qualified counsellors

Give presentations to trainees in colleges

Do you have any questions or would you like to book an initial consultation? Please click here to contact me.